A Phoenix's Fire
by misfit320
Summary: How did Warden Azreal Cousland meet and fall in love with his wife? Exploring the moments between what we saw in the game, some retelling of the moments we saw.
1. Prologue

**Well, here's the second side of my DA Fic! For the first, see "The Champion and the Pirate." This will obviously focus on my Warden and his love.**

**As ever, Bioware owns them.**

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I regarded my "guests" carefully. They had appeared in my home just a few minutes ago, which is to say just after sundown. They had assured me they meant no harm, as evidenced by the fact that they carried no weapons, but told me they had urgent business. I had taken them to my main study, where I poured each of us some wine. Once we had all relaxed a bit, they had told me what they needed. It was unusual, and I couldn't understand why they needed what they claimed to need. "And why am I to tell you what you want?"

The one to my right, with the short, dark hair, leaned in. "Please, it's important. We'll explain everything when you've finished. Trust me."

I looked to my left, at my other visitor. "Do you agree with this assessment?"

Without hesitation, my second guest nodded. "I do. Please, if you indulge us, we'll make it worth your while."

I chuckled softly to myself. "Alright. I don't understand how this will help you, nor why it's of such importance, but I'll do it."

I offered more wine to them both before settling back in my chair. "I first met my wife in Lothering…"

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**First real chapter to be posted shortly... as always, all reviews, criticisms, thoughts, suggestions, and snickerdoodle recipes are welcome!**


	2. The Meeting

**Here we go with the first full chapter of my new DA fic. This will tie in with my other fic eventually, but for now, enjoy!**

**Bioware owns the characters, I own... um... a decent house, some games, a car...**

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I ducked the soldier's sword, then stepped forward with my shield, raising it into his face and shoving him off balance. Having cleared my space around me in the crowded Inn, I took a moment to look over to Alistair. He was surrounded by two soldiers, but was keeping them at bay easily enough. Morrigan was throwing spells at the archers, which left three for me to deal with after my warhound engaged the one I had just hit.

Two. One of the soldiers suddenly fell, a throwing dagger lodged deep in his thigh. I looked behind me quickly, and saw a red-haired woman in chantry robes next to me, daggers in her hands. "Looked like you could use a hand, Warden!"

She ducked away, slicing the heel of another soldier. Before I could give her another though, I blocked an incoming sword slash with my shield and used the flat of my blade to knock him out.

After what seemed like only moments, the Inn was quiet again. The captain of the soldiers was kneeling on the floor, trembling as he tried to stop the bleeding from a wound in his stomach. I held the tip of my sword to the man's neck, unadulterated anger and rage screaming in my mind. "Tell me why I shouldn't kill you now."

"Because the Maker doesn't want you to."

I turned, and saw the woman again. She was standing next to me now, having put her blades away. "Besides, isn't it much worse to send him back to his master trying to explain how, with superior numbers, he and his men were sent running?"

I smiled, and the fury melted away. The thought of the whimpering man before me having to run back to that treacherous Loghain with his tail between his legs was not only amusing, but somewhat poetic. I looked back at the man. "Tell your master that the Wardens know who the real traitor is. And justice will come to him." I lowered my sword and nodded towards the door. "Take your men and go. Now, before the lady's mercy is lost to you."

The captain scrambled to his feet, wincing in pain. The rest of his soldiers helped each other towards the door. Once they were gone, I turned to the mystery woman. "Thank you for your help, Lady…"

She giggled. I couldn't believe what I just heard. _Someone that skilled in battle actually giggled? Interesting…_ She smiled at me. "Leliana. Just Leliana."

I smiled, her name felt like poetry in my mind. I nodded, then motioned to his companions. "I'm Azrael Cousland, this is Alistair, Morrigan, and," I pointed towards my mabari war hound that was happily chewing a bone in the corner, having lost interest in anything else after the battle was done, "that is Xandwilix."

Hearing his name, the dog looked up at them for a moment. Realizing that neither treats nor petting were imminent, he went back to his bone.

"Leliana, may I ask what brought you to our aid? It's not every day we see a member of the Chantry wielding daggers against fully armed soldiers."

Leliana giggled again. "I'm no Chantry sister, Azrael. I'm just a laywoman. And actually, I was hoping to talk to you from the moment you entered Lothering."

Alistair and I looked to each other, trading shocked and wary looks. "These days, if someone is hoping to talk to a Grey Warden, something like what just happened here is on their minds."

She shook her head. "Nothing like that. I want to join you."

"Join us?" Alistair and I both exclaimed in unison.

"Leliana, why would you want to join us?"

"You… you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"And if you had told me a month ago that I'd be a Grey Warden, fighting not only to stop a civil war but also to stop a blight, I'd have called you nug-shit crazy. Try me."

Leliana sighed. "Alright. I received… a vision. From the Maker."

"Here we go," Morrigan muttered under her breath.

"Want to rethink the nug-shit crazy comment?" Alistair whispered.

I ignored them both. "Can you describe your vision?"

"It was… full of darkness and fire. In it, I am fighting darkspawn alongside a group of people, two of whom are Grey Wardens. We are facing the Archdemon, and I look to one of the Wardens…" she shook her head, shaking off the vision. "We are triumphant. The Archdemon dies, and the darkspawn are routed." She looked to me, and I could see a faint shimmer in her eyes, the beginning of tears. "I understand if you think me mad, but I know what I saw. And I know what I feel."

I could only nod slowly. I could feel the conviction of her beliefs in her words, and saw the steel behind her eyes. There was no doubt in my mind. "I do not think you mad. The Maker works in mysterious ways. I welcome you to our company, Leliana."

She smiled at me. "You mean that? Oh, thank you!"

I decided right then to try to do everything I could to make sure I saw that smile as often as I could. "Don't thank me for anything. We have a long, hard road to travel yet. Though I hope it will be better with your company. We have a camp set up just at the north edge of the town, go get your things and meet us there."

As she hurried off to prepare, both Morrigan and Alistair confronted him. "Are you sure about accepting her?"

"I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I agree with the moron. She's not all there if she believes the maker spoke to her."

I wouldn't have it. "First off, I highly doubt she's insane. Second off, you both saw how she handled Loghain's men. She's very skilled, and we can use all of the help we can get. Thirdly-"

The three of us almost jumped as Xandwilix barked, having come up next to me. He sat down and looked up. "… thirdly, my dog likes her. And a Mabari is an excellent judge of character." I couldn't admit to them that part of the reason I said yes to her offer was the attraction I felt towards her the moment she had spoken to me. It felt more than just physical attraction, though. It felt more like I was meant to meet her. I didn't give it much thought then, though.

Alistair shrugged. "Ok, I trust you. I'm not sure about this, but I'll go along with it." Morrigan, for her part, simply rolled her eyes and started muttering about how the Grey Wardens needed to start testing for intelligence in their recruits.

The next day, we had packed up camp and were on our way to our first destination. I had decided to head to the Circle Tower first, hoping to use the support of the mages to help convince the Arl Eamon to join their cause. No one had seemed to disagree, though I could tell Alistair was anxious to return to Redcliffe. I hoped we wouldn't be too delayed in getting there.

I was walking in the middle of the group with Xandwilix next to me when Alistair's voice startled me. "How the hell do you do it?"

"What do you mean?" I looked over as the only other Grey Warden in Fereldan walked up alongside me.

"You seem to attract the strangest companions. First, there's me, a former Templar and bastard heir to the throne who's now a Grey Warden. Then we have a moody witch of the wilds. Now, after stopping in a small town, we somehow recruited a Qunari warrior and a chantry laysister. Is this my Feast Day prank?"

I smiled. I had to admit that our group was getting rather colorful as time went on, but I liked it that way. "The more diverse a group we have, the less chance of something happening that no one knows how to handle."

"Fair enough. Next thing you know, we'll have a dwarf, a golem, and an elven assassin with us."

"Sounds pretty well rounded to me, brother."

He laughed at that. "Yes, I can see it now. We kill the archdemon as it laughs at the allies we've acquired. This is starting to sound like some bard's tale."

"Not that there's anything wrong with that, I hope!" Leliana's voice startled both of us, as she was suddenly next to us.

"Not at all, my lady." Alistair bowed a little, eliciting a small laugh from the bard. "And with that, I bid you adieu. I must make my hourly snide comment to Morrigan, suffer a snide comment of hers, and then listen to her mutter under her breath about how the dog is smarter than I am. We have a system."

He walked ahead to catch up to Morrigan. Leliana chuckled lightly. "I wonder if they realize how perfect they are together."

I looked at her. "You certainly have an odd definition of 'perfect,' Leliana."

"Perhaps. I wonder if Morrigan realizes that he's smarter than he shows, and he's simply egging her on."

"That is a very good point. I guess-" I was interrupted as Xandwilx let out a light whimper. "What is it, boy?" He whimpered again. "Hungry?" At that, he let out a bark.

"Here, I have some jerky." Leliana reached into the small satchel at her hip and pulled out a small piece. She held it out to Xandwilix, who eagerly accepted it. He trotted alongside Leliana, satisfied.

"Well, you did it. You fed him, now he'll do anything you say and never leave your side."

"Really? Is that a Fereldean thing?" I looked over to see that she was holding a piece of jerky out to me. The mischievous smile on her face lit her eyes.

"Actually," I said, accepting it with a smile and wink, "feeding each other is a courting tradition here. You'd best be careful and not offer me too much jerky, the others might begin suspect something." I finished by holding out an apple I had recovered from my pack, smiling at her.

With a light laugh, she plucked it from my hand and sank her teeth into it. "Hmm… what do Fereldans give as a marriage proposal? A boar?"

I laughed. "Are you asking so you can keep an eye out for one in these woods?"

I don't know if I was supposed to hear her reply or not, but she almost whispered it. "Perhaps…"

I looked over to her. She winked at me, a smile on her face as she bit into the apple and walked on ahead of me. My mind spun. I had never met anyone like her before. She was flirty, funny, sweet, smart, and incredibly deadly. _She could be an assassin sent by Howe or Loghain,_ my mind reminded me. _She was searching for you specifically._ Perhaps it was naivety or youthful arrogance, or maybe a deeper insight into her character, but I instinctively knew that I had nothing to fear from this woman.

And while she appeared only a year or so older than me, she had the same world-weary look in her eyes that I felt coming over my own, though she still seemed intent on looking only on the positive side of everything. _I could learn a lot from her._ Somehow, I knew that whatever hardships I was facing now would be lessened by her presence.

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**And so it begins...**

**Any and all reviews and such are welcome! Negative, positive, signed, not signed... just love me!**

**Up next: swords, daggers, and Cousland and Leliana fight!**


	3. The Lesson

**So here we are with another chapter. I haven't been keeping up with this too much due to a severe lack of time (you can take that up with my 3 month old) but I'll finish this, I swear!**

**Bioware owns the characters and places. I just like to visit from time to time.**

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I was sitting before the fire, mending my armor when a dagger appeared, point down, in the dirt before me. I looked up to see Leliana standing before me, with a slight smirk on her face. "Come, there is something I want to show you."

I cast a glance over the fire to Alistair, who simply raised an eyebrow. I knew his thoughts about the bard from Orlais, who had joined us in Lothering, but I had accepted her offer of assistance both because we needed all the help we could get, and, I had to admit, because I found her… alluring.

I smiled at her as I set aside my work. I picked up the dagger, noticing she had an identical one in her hand. She lead me to the clearing in camp between the main camp and Morrigan's self-imposed separate camp. I couldn't help but notice how the midday sun seemed to shine off of Leliana's pale skin and fiery red hair. As she turned back to me, I saw a small half-smile, which seemed to mirror my own.

"Ok, what's this about?"

"How familiar are you with daggers?"

I tested the weight of the dagger. "An old Cousland saying goes 'popularity invites assassins.' My family was very popular. We were all educated on how to use daggers in defense against assassins, though…" I spun the blade into the air, making to grab for the hilt. I missed, and it landed point down precariously close to my boot. "… that's where my aptitude ends." I admitted.

She laughed. "Well, perhaps you just didn't have the proper teacher."

I smiled at her as I bent over to retrieve the dagger. "In the use of daggers, I bow to the master." I had seen her in combat enough to realize that she had extensive knowledge in the use of daggers. Seeing her twirl and spin between darkspawn and bandits alike, her twin daggers dancing in the sunlight, was almost mesmerizing.

She just smiled at me and curtseyed, reciprocating the mock bow I directed at her. "Warden Cousland, if you think flattery will make me take it easy on you, you're sadly mistaken."

"Please, call my Aedan."

She cocked her head, a bemused expression of curiosity on her face. "Aedan? Then why do Alistair and the others call you Azrael?"

I smiled at her. "A conversation for another time."

We spent the next hour working with the daggers, her showing me how to become comfortable with the smaller blade. I fumbled often, used as I was to my long sword and great sword. I was used to leading with my hip and shoulder, and it took some time to get used to leading with the wrist and elbow, though her instruction soon made it, if not second nature, more natural than I was before.

After a while, we broke for water. We were both sweating heavily in the summer heat, and our linen clothes were soaked. As she bent over to retrieve her water skin, I couldn't help but to notice how her simple clothes clung to her body. I immediately looked away, not wanting to embarrass her or myself. "I have a question, Leliana."

"Please, call me Li. If I am not calling you by what the rest of the group calls you, I think it only fair I reciprocate."

"Tell me truthfully, is my swordsmanship so abysmal that you feel I'm better off trying to start over with a new weapon?"

At this, I was shocked to see that she was almost embarrassed. "I realized that most people in Ferelden fight with swords. I've watched you in battle, and saw that you have a natural talent for fighting. I thought that adding daggers would give you an advantage over your opponents, something that they've not encountered much before. You're not offended, are you?"

I understood her trepidation. Telling a warrior that you think you might be able to teach them a thing or two could go one of two ways, and more often than not it went the way were one of you ended up with a sword in you. I winked at her, still catching my breath from our exertions. "Why do you think I would be offended? Because you thought of I way I could be more effective in combat, or because you admitted to watching me when I'm not looking?"

I could see how relieved she was. "Truthfully… I didn't know what you would think. I guess I could have just said that I wanted to spend time with you."

"To spend time with you, I'd learn how to fight with a willow branch."

She shot me that same radiant smile she always seemed to have. "If you want to learn that, I'm more than happy to help."

I smiled back at her. _How could I not smile at her when she smiled? _"Well, if you're willing, I have an idea of something I'd like to try. Are you up for it?"

Her smile took on a sly look. "With you, I'm up for anything."

I went back to my tent, and pulled out two long swords. Smaller than the typical Fereldan great sword, they allowed the use of a shield or a second weapon. I had long ago taken a preference to using the long sword, preferring the flexibility in fighting style it allowed, rather than the great sword that Alistair, Duncan, and my brother preferred.

I walked back over to where Leliana was standing. I presented the pommel of one to her. "How familiar are you with long swords?"

She smirked as she took it from my hand. "If you think I'm going to embarrass myself by trying impress you with something flashy only to fumble and almost take my toe off, you're very wrong."

"The thought never crossed my mind."

Over the next hour or so, we worked together. I explained how I was interested in adapting what she had already shown me with the normal long sword style of fighting. With a long sword in my right hand, and a dagger in my left, I felt ridiculous, but Leliana was up for the challenge of trying to teach the both of us a new way of fighting.

Together, we worked out the beginnings of a new style, which we both picked up rather quickly. While I was able to take my strength and apply it to the more fluid style that the daggers required, she was also able to apply her evasive style of fighting and apply it to the more powerful long sword. We found a good rhythm of using the long sword to get each other off balance then pressing forward with the dagger, or using the dagger to create space between us and using the long sword to cut in around the other's defenses.

Soon, we were able to duel back and forth with this new hybrid style with each attack, parry, and counter attack becoming more fluid and natural than those that came before. After a solid twenty minutes of our half-speed duel, we broke again for water, each smiling in elation with the work we'd been doing.

"There's something I want to figure out, if you don't mind. An old move my father once showed me, but never taught me. I just want to see if it's even possible with what we're doing." She nodded her assent to me. "Ok, so if I do this," I slowly extended the dagger in my left hand towards her right hip, "you would naturally do…" she slowly parried with the long sword in her right hand, directing the dagger away from her body. As she parried, I stepped in with my long sword, which she parried with her dagger. Through a slow series of feints and parries, I walked through what my father had shown me, a supposedly unbeatable technique that no one could defend against.

As I neared the end, both my dagger and sword were under each of Leliana's arms. A slight twist of my sword pinned her arms behind her back, while my left arm swung up, settling behind Leliana's neck. As I was finishing the move, I realized I had done the move right: in a normal fight, my opponent would be helpless to defend themselves from the blade at the back of their skull.

As I finished moving this time, though, a different realization ran through my mind. As my dagger settled at the base of her neck, we both took a small step into each other. Our bodies met, and it felt as if a lightning bolt had run through my body. Suddenly, there was nothing but her supple body pressed against mine, our clothes both soaked through with sweat. We were so close we were literally breathing each other's air. I could feel her breath on my lips, and could almost taste the sweat on her skin.

I wanted nothing more at that moment than to lean into her and kiss her, to feel her lips against mine. I had realized that it was becoming increasingly difficult to resist my attraction to her as the days went on. Many reasons flashed through my mind as to why it was a bad idea, but the feel of her against me drowned them all out.

Before we could linger against each other any further, though, Alistair called over to us. "If you're quite finished dancing, supper is served. I made sure the meat was nice and grey for everyone today!"

We slowly disengaged from each other and stepped back, the heat of the moment dissipating between us. I could tell from the look in her eyes that she felt the same sense of excitement and frustration that I did. "Perhaps, Leli-I mean, Li, we could pick this up again after supper?"

I felt a slight warmth fill me as she smiled. "I would very much like that. Though if Alistair cooked, we both might be too sick to work on this later."

She smiled as she handed my sword back to me. "Your sword, my Warden."

It was my turn to smile as I handed her back her dagger. "Your dagger, my Bard."

We lingered for a moment longer until finally, we made our way back to the campfire to join the others for supper.

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** As always, all reviews, comments, and critiques are welcome!**

**Up next... their lips meet! *giggle***


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